Grain production target lowered for 2013-14

It is 130 lakh tonnes, down from 136.55 lakh tonnes in 2012-13

The State government has set a lower foodgrain production target for 2013-14, compared with last year, in view of deficient rainfall for the last couple of years.

According to official information available with The Hindu here on Friday, the government has fixed the foodgrain production target at 130 lakh tonnes for 2013-14, down from 136.55 lakh tonnes fixed for the previous year.

Area under cultivation

However, there has been a slight increase in the target fixed for the area under cultivation for 2013-14. The government has projected that 82.60 lakh hectares of land will be cultivated against 81.85 lakh hectares projected in 2012-13.

Official sources said the total area for cereal cultivation has been fixed at 54.16 lakh hectares with a production target of 115 lakh tonnes and the coverage under pulses has been projected at 28.43 lakh hectares with a production target of 15 lakh tonnes. Last year, the area under cereals was projected at 54.35 lakh hectares with a production target of 121.05 lakh tonnes and the area under pulses was fixed at 27.5 lakh hectares with a production target of 15.5 lakh tonnes.

Maize has replaced paddy as a major crop in the targets fixed by the government for 2013-14 with a production target of 41.56 lakh tonnes, covering an area of 13.26 lakh hectares. The production target for paddy is 38.4 lakh tonnes, covering an area of 13.97 lakh hectares.

Last year, the target for paddy was 41.79 lakh tonnes and maize 41.79 lakh tonnes. The increase in the projection for area under maize is due to the growing interest among farmers to take up its cultivation, particularly in the irrigated belts.

Jowar has occupied the third spot in the projections for 2013-14, with a production target of 15.36 lakh tonnes in 13.35 lakh hectares followed by ragi with a production target of 14.31 lakh tonnes in 7.96 lakh hectares.

Pulses

Among pulses, red gram and Bengal gram continue to dominate the scene. While red gram is projected to be cultivated in 8.58 lakh hectares with a production target of 5.58 lakh tonnes, Bengal gram is expected to be cultivated in 10.79 lakh hectares with a production target of 5.52 lakh tonnes.

The government has fixed oilseeds production target at 15.75 lakh tonnes against 15.2 lakh tonnes fixed for 2012-13.

The targeted area under oilseeds production has come down slightly from 21 lakh hectares in 2012-13 to 19.82 lakh hectares in 2013-14.

Commercial crops

The government has fixed a target of cultivating commercial crops at 12.32 lakh. The target for cotton cultivation is 5.6 lakh hectares with a production target of 12.7 lakh bales. The area under the cotton is expected to increase with more farmers opting for the crop, particularly BT cotton, in view of remunerative market prices.

The area under sugarcane has been fixed at 5.38 lakh hectares with a production target of 400 lakh tonnes and tobacco cultivation is projected to cover 1.15 lakh hectares with a production target of 1.2 lakh tonnes.